BFI: L'Argent Detailed for Blu-ray

The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of Robert Bresson's L'Argent (1983), starring Sylvie Van den Elsen, Christian Patey, Vincent Risterucci, Caroline Lang, and Michel Briguet. The release will be available for purchase on August 8.

Description: Adapted from a novella by Leo Tolstoy, Bresson's portrait of an ordinary man driven to ever-more extreme crimes by social and financial forces beyond his control probes uncomfortably beneath the surface of 'civilised' society. This compact, rigorously stylised film and the awkward questions it poses, about the nature of forgiveness and the possibility of redemption, is a rich testament to one of cinema's greatest auteurs.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
• Style, Anti-style and Influence (2022, 22 mins): an onstage discussion between Geoff Andrew, Jonathan Hourigan and Nasreen Munni Kabir on the films of Robert Bresson, filmed at BFI Southbank
• First and Last (2022, 9 mins): film scholar Jonathan Hourigan, former assistant to Robert Bresson, compares the director's first feature, Les Anges du péché, with his last, L'Argent
• The Root of All Evil (2022, 19 mins): writer Michael Brooke considers Bresson's late masterpiece in this newly commissioned video essay
• Jonathan Hourigan on L'Argent (2007, 27 mins, audio only): an audio introduction to the film
• Value For Money (1970, 22 mins): David Blest's dreamlike, experimental short film, featuring Quentin Crisp, visualises coin-operated connections between money and religion
• Theatrical trailer
• Illustrated booklet featuring writing by Jonathan Hourigan an essay by Dr Martin Hall and a review by Tom Milne originally published in Monthly Film Bulletin in 1983; credits and notes on the special features (first pressing only)